


Someone Gets Hurt

by milkbreadcat



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Falling Out of Love, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24346822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkbreadcat/pseuds/milkbreadcat
Summary: Some changes are for the good, while some are for the bad. But how do you know which it is in the moment?Kuroo could deal with the aftermath, he was done.
Relationships: Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 56





	Someone Gets Hurt

To break down at all, but especially now, wasn’t planned. Though, he supposed, none of this was. It blind sided him, like a hurricane on a sunny day. 

Tsukishima Kei was known for showing little emotion. He was beautiful, a model in everyone’s eyes. The height, the looks, the face, the ability to show no emotions at all and still look good, he had every single point on that list checked off. An ice king, covering any feelings with a layer of sass. That’s what was expected after all, it was what he was known for. It’s what he wanted them to see, even those close to him saw it, few getting to know him enough to see outside of it. That was okay, it’s what he wanted, to put on a show to protect himself. He just hoped that his boyfriend saw through it, like Yamaguchi had.

When he and Kuroo first met, it seemed like the captain was drawn to him from the minute they met. He never knew why, if it was because of his demeanor, his looks, or his false attitude. It felt like it was deeper than that, so when Kuroo confessed, he said yes and they started dating. Slowly, like each layer of paint he used to cover his true self was being removed. Residue would stay, but it was still translucent, you could see who he was. Lovers share their true selves, or that’s what others seem to do.

Two years in, he could confidently say he had fallen for the captain. Kuroo would brag about how he had let him in, and he’d get flustered and bark a half-meant snarky reply to cover how he really felt so others couldn’t see. There were things he’d only let Kuroo get away with that he’d never let others get away with, like getting in his personal space in public or taking pictures of him at random moments. Maybe his boyfriend knew that, he knew Yamaguchi knew it for sure, occasionally pointing it out to when they were alone, proud his friend was opening up.

But even while opening up, he couldn’t help see how his boyfriend was with others. Of course, he and Kuroo would act differently with each other than with others, they were dating, but something about how his partner acted with others put him on edge. He knew the boy flirted, it was part of his personality, but it felt like he saw others on the same field as Tsukishima some days.

Kenma and Kuroo were friends, really close friends. He knew this when he entered the relationship, no one builds a team around a single player unless there is trust in the foundation of their relationship. It was okay, Tsukishima had Yamaguchi, while Kuroo had Kenma, he understood. But the longer they dated, the more he saw the difference between the two friendships.

Nights sleeping in the same bed, sharing one space between two. Even with sleep overs, he and Yamaguchi would never share a bed like this. This was special, legs tangled in each other, seeing each other at their weakest (I mean, Kuroo could kill him in his sleep, so arguably, this was his weakest.) Yet, it felt like others saw him as an object his boyfriend had simply won. Not human. There was no way Kuroo thought of it that way though, because he could hear Tsukishima’s heart beating as he laid his head on his chest, proving he was alive.

Clearly, someone as smart as Kuroo would know he was making an effort! After all, he had to see all the things he was let to do that Tsukishima would never let others do, right? He had to see through his performance, he had to know his boyfriend of two years wore a mask around others, scarred from his childhood, but took that mask off for him as much as he could. That he wore his ice king crown as self-defense from others. That sure, Kageyama was Karasuno’s resident King of the Court, but he was the school’s King of Ice, if nothing else. He knew that when they started dating.

The longer they were together, the more the feeling grew in the pit of his stomach. Something bad would happen. He saw the looks Kuroo gave his best friend, he saw who was placed in priority when push came to shove. He’d get sick, and Kuroo would spend the day gaming with Kenma, leaving him alone until Yamaguchi found out and came to take care him. They’d be on a date and Kenma would text, making Kuroo leave in a heartbeat. But why?!

Was he too cold? Yamaguchi had said his cold facade had melted around Kuroo, and sure he was sassy, but it was never in a hurtful way. He made sure of that. Was he too proud when it came to their relationship, too proud of himself? Was his false-confidence what was pushing him away? Did Kuroo know that the longer they were together, the more the confidence in himself grew, instead of being fake? Tsukishima already knew though, Kuroo would choose Kenma over him any day.

So, he was stuck, acting out the role in a show he knew wasn’t really his anymore. Stuck with his icy façade, crumbling inside. If he tried to talk about it, Kuroo would just say that he in Kenma were close friends, and joke about how insecure he was, trapping them in a circle. All he had to do was say what it was, if he still loved Tsukishima, as a person, or not. That’s all it would take. Brutal honesty, that’s all he needed. Yet, Kuroo would always make sure to leave him without that.

To the public at least, it was fine. Kuroo was hot, Tsukishima was hot, both were smart and sarcastic. They fit. Sure, Kuroo was a flirt, but because he was loyal, no one saw him actually do anything with anyone else. So, his flirting was fine, it was just who he was. That’s why he flirted with his best friend. At least, in public that is.

He’s fine! So very fine, no one could see the cracking going on. Kuroo was good, he knew how to act just as well as Tsukishima, if not better. But one could only play the game so long before getting bored and moving on, and that someone was Kuroo. It didn’t matter that Tsukishima felt it coming, it still hurt. He wasn’t surprised, not when Kuroo didn’t show up to his graduation ceremony, not when Akaashi texted a picture of third gym and Kenma together without him that same day saying that they all missed him and that it sucked that he was sick, and not when he came to surprise Kuroo a week later and found him with Kenma.

He should have known, he knew he ignored everything for the show, but he didn’t realize he was fooling himself as well. Tsukishima should have accepted it sooner; he should have dropped the act. He couldn’t help but feel it was his fault. What’d he do wrong? What did Kenma have that he didn’t?

His mask shattered, so he hid.

Kuroo could deal with the aftermath, he was done.

**Author's Note:**

> Three years later, when an invitation to Kuroo and Kenma's wedding shows up in Yamaguchi and Tsukishima's mail, Yamaguchi burns it outside of their apartment to keep the negative energy out.


End file.
